joule

See also: Joule and jõule

English

Etymology

Named after English physicist James Prescott Joule (1818–1889). The surname is a variant of Joel.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jo͞ol, joul; IPA^(key): /d͡ʒuːl/, /d͡ʒaʊl/

• Audio (Southern England); /d͡ʒuːl/:

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʉl/
• Homophones: jewel (/-uː-/, one pronunciation), jowl (/-aʊ-/), Juul (/-uː-/)
• Rhymes: -uːl, -aʊl

Noun

joule (plural joules)

2. In the International System of Units, the derived unit of energy, work and heat; the work required to exert a force of one newton for a distance of one metre. Equivalent to one watt-second (one watt of power acting for a duration of one second).

   Alternative form: J (symbol)

   Coordinate terms: (torque) N·m, newton-metre; (work and energy, non-SI) calorie, Calorie, BTU, foot-pound, pound-foot

Derived terms

• attojoule
• femtojoule
• giga-joule
• gigajoule
• joulemeter
• joule-second
• joule thief
• kilojoule
• kilo-joule
• mega-joule
• megajoule
• microjoule
• micro-joule
• millijoule
• milli-joule
• nano-joule
• nanojoule
• oxyjoule
• pico-joule
• picojoule
• tera-joule
• terajoule
• yottajoule
• zeptojoule

Translations

derived unit of energy, work and heat

• Arabic: جُول (ar) m (jūl)
• Armenian: ջոուլ (hy) (ǰoul)
• Asturian: xuliu (ast) m
• Basque: joule
• Belarusian: джо́уль m (džóulʹ)
• Bulgarian: джа́ул m (džául)
• Burmese: ဂျိုး (gyui:)
• Catalan: joule (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 焦耳 (zh) (jiāo'ěr)

• Czech: joule (cs)
• Danish: joule
• Dutch: joule (nl) m
• Esperanto: ĵulo
• Estonian: džaul
• Finnish: joule (fi)
• French: joule (fr) m
• Galician: joule (gl) m, xulio (gl) m
• Georgian: ჯოული (ǯouli)
• German: Joule (de) n
• Greek: τζάουλ (el) n (tzáoul)
• Hebrew: ג׳ול (jul)
• Hindi: जौल (jaul)
• Hungarian: joule (hu)
• Icelandic: júl (is) n
• Indonesian: joule (id)
• Irish: giúl m
• Italian: joule (it) m
• Japanese: ジュール (ja) (jūru)
• Khmer: ជូល (cuul), ស៊ូល (suul)
• Korean: 줄 (ko) (jul)
• Latvian: džouls
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: joule
• Malay: joule
• Māori: wae pūngoi
• Mongolian: жоуль (žoulʹ)
• Norwegian: joule (no)
• Polish: dżul (pl) m
• Portuguese: joule (pt)
• Romanian: joule (ro)
• Russian: джо́уль (ru) m (džóulʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: џул m, džul (sh) m
• Slovak: joule
• Slovene: joule (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: joule m

• Spanish: julio (es) m, joule m (yul)
• Swedish: joule (sv)
• Telugu: జౌలు (jaulu)
• Thai: จูล (jun)
• Turkish: jul (tr)
• Ukrainian: джо́уль m (džóulʹ)
• Vietnamese: jun (vi)
• Welsh: joule m or f

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from French joule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdʒau̯l]
• Hyphenation: joule

Noun

joule m inan

1. joule (the derived unit of energy, work and heat)

Declension

Declension of joule (hard masculine inanimate foreign)

	singular	plural
nominative	joule	jouly
genitive	joulu	joulů
dative	joulu	joulům
accusative	joule	jouly
vocative	joule	jouly
locative	joulu	joulech
instrumental	joulem	jouly

Derived terms

• exajoule
• gigajoule
• kilojoule
• megajoule
• petajoule
• terajoule

Further reading

• “joule”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “joule”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

From French joule.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

joule m (plural joules, no diminutive)

1. joule

Finnish

Etymology

From English joule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjou̯le/, [ˈjo̞u̯le̞]
• Rhymes: -oule
• Syllabification^(key): jou‧le
• Hyphenation^(key): jou‧le

Noun

joule

1. joule (unit of measure)

Declension

Inflection of joule (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		joule	joulet
genitive		joulen	joulejen
partitive		joulea	jouleja
illative		jouleen	jouleihin
		singular	plural
nominative		joule	joulet
accusative	nom.	joule	joulet
	gen.	joulen
genitive		joulen	joulejen joulein rare
partitive		joulea	jouleja
inessive		joulessa	jouleissa
elative		joulesta	jouleista
illative		jouleen	jouleihin
adessive		joulella	jouleilla
ablative		joulelta	jouleilta
allative		joulelle	jouleille
essive		joulena	jouleina
translative		jouleksi	jouleiksi
abessive		jouletta	jouleitta
instructive		—	joulein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of joule (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative jouleni jouleni accusative nom. jouleni jouleni gen. jouleni genitive jouleni joulejeni jouleini rare partitive jouleani joulejani inessive joulessani jouleissani elative joulestani jouleistani illative jouleeni jouleihini adessive joulellani jouleillani ablative jouleltani jouleiltani allative joulelleni jouleilleni essive joulenani jouleinani translative joulekseni jouleikseni abessive joulettani jouleittani instructive — — comitative — jouleineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative joulesi joulesi accusative nom. joulesi joulesi gen. joulesi genitive joulesi joulejesi jouleisi rare partitive jouleasi joulejasi inessive joulessasi jouleissasi elative joulestasi jouleistasi illative jouleesi jouleihisi adessive joulellasi jouleillasi ablative jouleltasi jouleiltasi allative joulellesi jouleillesi essive joulenasi jouleinasi translative jouleksesi jouleiksesi abessive joulettasi jouleittasi instructive — — comitative — jouleinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative joulemme joulemme accusative nom. joulemme joulemme gen. joulemme genitive joulemme joulejemme jouleimme rare partitive jouleamme joulejamme inessive joulessamme jouleissamme elative joulestamme jouleistamme illative jouleemme jouleihimme adessive joulellamme jouleillamme ablative jouleltamme jouleiltamme allative joulellemme jouleillemme essive joulenamme jouleinamme translative jouleksemme jouleiksemme abessive joulettamme jouleittamme instructive — — comitative — jouleinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative joulenne joulenne accusative nom. joulenne joulenne gen. joulenne genitive joulenne joulejenne jouleinne rare partitive jouleanne joulejanne inessive joulessanne jouleissanne elative joulestanne jouleistanne illative jouleenne jouleihinne adessive joulellanne jouleillanne ablative jouleltanne jouleiltanne allative joulellenne jouleillenne essive joulenanne jouleinanne translative jouleksenne jouleiksenne abessive joulettanne jouleittanne instructive — — comitative — jouleinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative joulensa joulensa accusative nom. joulensa joulensa gen. joulensa genitive joulensa joulejensa jouleinsa rare partitive jouleaan jouleansa joulejaan joulejansa inessive joulessaan joulessansa jouleissaan jouleissansa elative joulestaan joulestansa jouleistaan jouleistansa illative jouleensa jouleihinsa adessive joulellaan joulellansa jouleillaan jouleillansa ablative jouleltaan jouleltansa jouleiltaan jouleiltansa allative joulelleen joulellensa jouleilleen jouleillensa essive joulenaan joulenansa jouleinaan jouleinansa translative joulekseen jouleksensa jouleikseen jouleiksensa abessive joulettaan joulettansa jouleittaan jouleittansa instructive — — comitative — jouleineen jouleinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• eksajoule
• gigajoule
• kilojoule
• megajoule
• terajoule

Further reading

• “joule”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒul/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

joule m (plural joules)

1. joule

Further reading

• “joule”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology

From English joule, from English physicist James Prescott Joule.

Noun

joule m (plural joules)

1. joule

   Synonym: xulio

Italian

Etymology

Internationalism. See English Joule. The French-looking spelling spawned hypercorrect pronunciations.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒul/, /ˈd͡ʒawl/, (not recommended) /ˈʒul/, (discouraged) /ˈʒyl/
• Rhymes: -ul, -awl
• Hyphenation: joule

Noun

joule m (invariable)

1. joule

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French joule.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʒaw.li/ [ˈʒaʊ̯.li]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʒaw.li/ [ˈʒaʊ̯.li]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʒaw.le/ [ˈʒaʊ̯.le]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʒu.lɨ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -awli, (Portugal) -ulɨ
• Hyphenation: jou‧le

Noun

joule m (plural joules)

1. joule (derived unit of energy, work and heat)

Derived terms

• quilojoule

Further reading

• “joule”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “joule”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “joule”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French joule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒul/

Noun

joule m (plural jouli)

1. joule

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	joule	joulul	jouli	joulii
genitive-dative	joule	joulului	jouli	joulilor
vocative	joulule		joulilor

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English joule, from English physicist James Prescott Joule.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝul/ [ˈɟ͡ʝul]

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝul/ [ˈɟ͡ʝul] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina and Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʃul/ [ˈʃul] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʒul/ [ˈʒul] (elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)

• Rhymes: -ul

Noun

joule m (plural joules)

1. joule

   Synonym: julio

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “joule”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025